Bill Wilson, of Wilson Creek Winery, says he wears many hats, wears a set of mouse ears after speaking to the supervisors on Tuesday, December 3, 2013. Riverside County Board of Supervisors will be asked to tentatively approve the Temecula Valley Wine Country expansion plan, during an afternoon hearing in Riverside.

Phil Baily of Baily Winery listens after speaking to the supervisors on Tuesday, December 3, 2013. Riverside County Board of Supervisors will be asked to tentatively approve the Temecula Valley Wine Country expansion plan, during an afternoon hearing in Riverside.

Dan Stephenson speaks to the supervisors on Tuesday, December 3, 2013. Riverside County Board of Supervisors will be asked to tentatively approve the Temecula Valley Wine Country expansion plan, during an afternoon hearing in Riverside.

A blueprint for an ambitious Temecula-area winery expansion was tentatively approved Tuesday, Dec. 3, by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors — but it is expected to be challenged in court.

The 19,000-acre Temecula Valley Wine Country Community Plan was adopted 4-0, with Supervisor Marion Ashley absent. Final adoption is anticipated Dec. 17.

“I just think this is so critical to the county and its economic viability,” Supervisor John Tavaglione said.

The plan was approved without a controversial equestrian trail component that angered property owners in recent weeks.

At Supervisor Jeff Stone’s urging, however, the board went against a Planning Commission recommendation and kept in 956 acres south of Temecula Parkway, or Highway 79 South.

Stone persuaded colleagues to tweak a two-story restriction for winery-property buildings, allowing hotels to reach three stories. Other buildings, such as restaurants and wine-tasting rooms, must adhere to the two-story limit.

winetalk.map

Despite sorting out various concerns, supervisors refused to back away from a proposal to exempt Calvary Chapel Bible Fellowship by creating a “doughnut hole” wrapped around the church’s 30 acres. That opens a door for the church to expand in an agricultural area that bars houses of worship.

But a vintner group has vowed to sue over the matter, contending the hole is an illegal form of “spot zoning.”

Before the vote, supervisors heard from 44 speakers on the matter. Some wanted the county to axe trails; others said trails were vital.

Other speakers sought unsuccessfully to relax a 20-acre minimum for new wineries that want to have restaurants, hotels, bed-and-breakfast inns or concert venues. Still others objected to requirements to produce half of wine from locally grown grapes.

The production rule was defended by Bill Wilson, owner of Wilson Creek Winery and chairman of an 18-member stakeholder committee that helped develop the plan.

“We cannot be a fake Wine Country,” Wilson said. “We need to make wine on our property. We need to grow grapes.”

Another winery owner sought the building tweak. Jim Carter, owner of sprawling South Coast Winery, said the two-story limitation stood in the way of his hotel plans.

“It prohibits me from finishing that icon property that I’ve been working on for 10 years,” Carter said.

Supervisors agreed to the change, but left the height limitation at 30 feet on level ground and 40 feet on terraced land. “I don’t want us to be the Holiday Inn Express Wine Country,” Stone said.

As for the area south of Temecula Parkway, that was something Fred Bartz, president of the 974-home Morgan Hill Homeowners Association, sought to keep in the plan.

Perhaps the biggest change was the nixing trails.

“Frankly, if I had a property that was on the proposed trail map … I’d be very concerned,” Stone said. “I don’t want to shove a trails plan down the throats of our residents.”

Stone asked to take that out following protests by several property owners, including one who said they have retained a land-use attorney.

“We will fight long and very hard to prevent the implementation of these trails,” Carol Haley said.

Leading trail supporters declined to comment following the vote.

Stone said he wasn’t giving up on trails and intends to appoint a committee to come up with a new map separate from the Wine Country plan. He said the plan still has something for horse enthusiasts: a distinct equestrian district that legitimizes a number of horse businesses that code enforcement officers have cited in the past for alleged noncompliance with zoning rules.

Through the creation of winery, residential and equestrian districts, the plan seeks to concentrate wineries along Rancho California Road and separate them from the Valle de los Caballos horse community and rural neighborhoods. However, to date much of the area has developed in hodgepodge fashion.

Dave is a general assignment reporter based in Riverside, writing about a wide variety of topics ranging from drones and El Nino to trains and wildfires. He has worked for five newspapers in four states: Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona and California. He earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Colorado State University in 1981. Loves hiking, tennis, baseball, the beach, the Lakers and golden retrievers. He is from the Denver area.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.